Battle of the Kalka River (1381)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2020) |
| Battle of the Kalka River | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Great Troubles | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Mamai's faction |
Tokhtamysh's faction | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mamai | Tokhtamysh | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| unknown, smaller | unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown, most likely higher | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of the Kalka River[2] in 1381 was fought between the Mongol warlords Mamai and Tokhtamysh (also spelt Toqtamish) for control of the Golden Horde. Tokhtamysh was the victor and became sole ruler of the Horde.
Mamai previously had de facto control over the Horde (though he was never declared khan), but his control began to crumble when Tokhtamysh of the
Kalka Rivers.[2] No details of the battle remain but Tokhtamysh, who probably had a larger army,[citation needed] won a decisive victory.[b] He subsequently took over the Golden Horde as undisputed khan.[1]
According to the earliest version of the "Chronicle Tale" (Letopisnaia povest’), Tokhtamysh informed Muscovite prince Dmitry Donskoy that he had defeated their mutual enemy Mamai.[3]
Notes
- ^ a b "[I]t is clear that Moscow had won a pyrrhic victory [at Kulikovo]. Russian losses were so great that Moscow could now raise another army to take advantage of Mamai's defeat. Mamai, on the other hand, mobilized more troops and prepared for a second campaign against Russia."[1]
- ^ a b "Luckily for Moscow, the arrival of Tokhtamysh, pretender to the throne of the Volga khanate and client of the powerful Tamerlane, caused Mamai to abandon his Russian scheme. Unluckily for Moscow, Tokhtamysh had the same plans and carried them out after defeating emir Mamai on the river Kalka."[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Halperin 1987, p. 75.
- ^ a b Halperin 2016, p. 4.
- ^ Halperin 2016, p. 9.
Bibliography
- Halperin, Charles J. (1987). Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. p. 222. ISBN 9781850430575. (e-book).
- Halperin, Charles J. (17 February 2016). "A Tatar interpretation of the battle of Kulikovo Field, 1380: Rustam Nabiev". Nationalities Papers. 44 (1): 4–19. S2CID 129150302.